Airplane toy



April 21, 1931.

A. J. DACEY, JR

AIRPLANE TOY Filed July 16, 1928 Patented Apr: 21, 1931 AiliIRED J.DACEY, 53., OF CLEVELAND, OHIO AIRPLANE TOY Application filed July 16,1928. Seria1 No. 292,967.

This invention relates to airplane toys, and has particular reference tothe type in which a miniature airplane is propelled around a pivotalpoint.

'5 Numerous devices of this character have been proposed but, so far asI am aware, none of these have been capable of actually flying that is,lifting their own weight, for the reason that the driving mechanism wasmounted in the fuselage of the plane and was of such weight as tomaterially retard the flight of the plane.

An object of the invention is to provide an airplane toy which will becapable of 15. actual flight. 1

Another object is to provide a toy of the character described, in whichthe propelling mechanism is located in the base of the standard aroundwhich the plane is adapted to fly.

Another object is to provide means under the control of the operator forproducing u ward and downward movements of the p ane.

The invention consists in certain novel details of construction andarrangement of parts which will be apparent from the followingspecification, describin a preferred embodiment of the invention ta enin connection with the accompanying drawing illustrating the same,wherein- Fig. 1 is an elevational view, partly in section, illustratingan airplane toy constructed in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a lan view of a portion of the toy airplane i ustrating certamportions of the driving mechanism;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the airplane; 1

. Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is a horizontal cross-sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the device comprises a base 10,upon which there is suitably mounted a standard 11, tubular ,in form,which; is surmounted by an inner cap member 12, having a portion of itstop cut away as indicated by the numeral 12a, and formed with a pair ofupstanding apertured cars 13. The inner cap member 12 is free to rotateupon the end of the standard 11. A shaft 14'is carried by the ears 13,the ends of the shaft extending beyond the ears, and the mid portion ofthe shaft being formed as a crank 14a, for a purpose to be later de- 555scribed.

The projecting ends of the shaft 14 serve as a support for an outer capmember 15, the latter being fixed to the shaft by any suitable means,whereby the outer cap 15 may be tilted with respect to the inner capmember and the standard 11 against the I tensionof a spring 14?), andmay also rotate with respect to the standard 11, by reason of itsconnection with the inner cap memher 12.

The outer cap member 15 is slotted at one side to receive one end of alaterally extending tubular arm 16, which is mounted on a horizontallydisposed pivot pin 17 at right angles to the shaft 14, by means of whichthe arm is rendered capable of movement in I a plane through the axis ofthe cap.

The extreme end 16a of the arm 16 extends into the cap beyond thepivotal point 17, and is engaged on its upper side by oneend of a spring18 mounted in the top of the cap which tends to counterbalance theweight of the arm. The outer end of the arm 16 carries the toy airplane20, which is suitably secured thereto, as by means of cooperatingflanges 19.

The airplane 20 is illustrated as being of the monoplane type, althoughother types might be utilized, and comprises a hollow fuselage 21, planeor wing 23, landing wheels 24 and ropeller 25. The propeller is securedupon t e shaft 26, extending through the fuselage to a point adjacentthe point of attachment of the arm 16, which point may be approximatelymidway of the length of the fuselage.

As stated above an object of the invention is to provide means forpropelling the airplane, which means are mounted in the base ratherthanin the airplane itself, so that the 9 weight of the airplane may be verymaterially reduced and so that it may be capable of actual flight. Tothis end there is mounted in the base 10 an electric motor 30 having adriving pinion 31, which meshes with a 1 pinion 32a carried at the lowerend of a shaft 32 mounted in a suitable bearing 33 ithin the tubularstandard 11 and provide "with a bead 34 which engages the end of thestandard 11 to serve as a support for the shaft 32. The shaft 32terminates at its extreme upper end in a hook 34a.

A shaft 35, formed preferably of piano wire, is threaded through thetubular arm 16 and is adapted to be rotated by the shaft 32, by means ofa flexible connection which may assume the form of a coil spring 36. Theouter end of the shaft 35is ada ted to drive the pro ller shaft 26 ofthe airp ane through the me ium of a flexible connection 37, which mayalso be in the form of a coil spring.

It will be readily appreciated that operation of the electricmotor willcause rotation of the propeller of the airplane through the shaft 32,flexible joint 36, shaft 35, flexible 'oint 37 and shaft 26, and theplane will egin to move in a circle around the standard 11 supported onthe landing wheels 24. As the speed is increased the plane will risegradually until the arm 16 assumes the horizontal solid line positionillustrated in F 1g. 1.

Another feature of the invention contemplates the provision of means forcontrolling,

to some extent, the flight of the airplane. This is accomplished bymeans of the crank portion 14a on the shaft 14, which may be rocked totilt the cap 15 with respect to the standard 11, thereby causing the arm16 to turn lengthwise and direct the nose of the airplane eitherupwardly or downwardly so that the airplane is caused either to ascendor descend according to the direction of movement of the crank portion14a. The means provided for operating the crank 14a comprises a member40 such as a stiff Wire which is connected to the crank above thecutaway portion 12a of the inner cap 12. The member 40 extends a shortdistance into the tubular standard 11 Where it is suitably connected toa bushing 38 rotatably mounted on the upper end of a relatively shorttube 39 and held against longitudinal movement with respect thereto. Thetube 39 surrounds the shaft 32 and is slidable with respect thereto. Aflexible member 40a such as a cord or wire is secured adjacent the lowerend of the tube 39 and extends through the standard 11 and a tubularextension 11a forming a part of the base and extending to a point beyondthe circular path described by the airplane Where it opens into acontrol 'box or station 41 and is connected to the that the switch forcontrolling the electric motor be mounted on the box 41, as indicated bythe numeral 43, but this, of course, is not 1 essential but merely amatter of convenience.

The provision of the rotatable bushing 38 and slidable tube 39constitutes a swivel connection which permits ad'ustment of the crank14a during rotation o the head or cap.

From the foregoing it will be readily appreciated that the inventionprovides an airlane toy of the character referred to which is capable ofactual flight and wherein the flight may be, to some extent, controlledby the operator.

It will be appreciated that while the invention has been described in apreferred embodiment, modifications and changes might be made Withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention, and it is desired that onlysuch limitations be imposed as are set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. An airplane toy comprising a base having an extension, a housingcarried by the extension, a standard mounted on the base, a caprotatably supported on the standard, an arm carried by t e cap, anairplane mounted at the end of the arm and having a propeller, meansmounted in the base for causing rotation of the propeller, mechanism fortilting the cap with respect to the standard, and means carried by thehousing for controlling the operation of said first and second mentionedmeans.

2. An airplane toy comprising a base, a standard mounted on the base, acap rotatably supported on the standard, an arm having one end pivotallysupported within the cap, an airplane mounted at the opposite end of thearm, a propeller mounted in the airplane, means mounted in the base forcausing rotation of the propeller, and means mounted within the cap forpartially countelrbalancing the weight of the arm and airp ane.

3. An airplane toy comprising a base, a standard mounted-on the base, acap pivotally and rotatably supported on the standard, tension means.for moving the cap in one direction about its pivot, an arm carried bythe cap, an airplane mounted on the arm and having a propeller, meansfor causing rotation of the'propeller, and means for causing pivotalmovement of the cap against the tension means.

4; An airplane toy comprising a base, a standard mounted on the base, acap pivotally and rotatably supported on the standard, tension means formoving the cap in one direction about its pivot, an arm carried by thecap, an airplane mounted on the arm and having a propeller, means forcausing rotation of the propeller, means for causing pivotal movement ofthe cap against the tension means, said means comprising a crank shaftrigidly secured to the cap, and means for moving the crank shaft.

5. An airplane toy comprising a base, a

standard mounted on the base, a cap pivotally and rotatably supported onthe standard, tension means for moving thecap in one direction about itspivot, an arm pivoted to the cap, an airplane carried by the arm andhaving a propeller, means for causing rotation of the propeller, andmeans for causing movement of the cap about its pivot in the oppositedirection against said tension means comprising a member offset from thepivotal mounting of the cap, and means for causing movement of saidmember.

6. An airplane toy comprising a base, an airplane mounted to fly aroundthe base, a propeller on the airplane, and means for causing rotation ofthe propeller and through said rotation flight of the airplane, saidmeans being rotated outside the airplane.

7 An airplane toy comprising a base, an airplane mounted to fly aroundthe base, a propeller on the airplane, means for causing rotation of thepropeller, comprising a motor mounted outside the airplane, and meansoperable during flight to control the elevation of the airplane.

8. An airplane toy comprising a fixed support, an airplane mounted tofly around the support, a propeller ,on the airplane, means for causingrotation of the propeller, comprising a motor mounted outside theairplane, and means for varying the elevation of the airplane duringflight, said means being located in the fixed support.

9. A toy airplane compjrising a base, a

standard mounted on the ass, an arm carried by the standard androtatable with respect thereto, an airplane carried by said arm, apropeller therefor for driving the airplane, and means for operating thepro peller of the airplane, said means being mounted in the base.

' 10. An airplane toy comprising a base, a standard mounted on the base,a cap rotatably supported on said standard, an arm pivoted to the cap,an airplane carried by said arm and having a propeller adapted to drivethe airplane, and means mounted in the base for causing rotation of thepropeller.

11. An airplane toy comprising a base, a standard mountedon the base, acap pivotally and rotatably mounted on the standard, an arm carried bythe cap, an airplane carried by said arm and having a propeller adaptedto drive the airplane, and means mounted in the base for causingrotation of the propeller- 12. An airplane toy comprising a base, astandard mounted on the base, an arm carried by the standard, anairplane carried by said arm, an airplane drlving propeller mounted onthe airplane, means mounted in the base for causing rotation of thepropeller, and means for controlling the first mentioned means:

lar arm carried by the standard, an airplane mounted at the end of thearm, a ropeller mounted on the airplane and rotata 1e drivingconnections mounted in the base and extending through the standard andarm for causing rotation of the propeller.

14. An airplane toy comprising a base, a standard mounted on the base,an arm carried by the standard, an airplane mounted on the arm andhaving a propeller for driving the airplane, and means mounted in thebase for causing rotation of the ropeller whereby the airplane is causedto y in a circular path around the base.

15. An airplane toy comprising a base, a

standard carried by the base, an arm carried by the standard and adaptedto revolve about the axis of the standard, an airplane mounted on thearm and having a propeller for driving the airplane, and means mountedin the base for causing rotation of the propeller, wheregy the airplaneis caused to fly around the ase.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto afiix my signature.

ALFRED J. DACEY, JR.

